Ahem. SPOILER ALERT!
We’re halfway through the fifth season of The Walking Dead, and the body count has been relatively low, considering the show’s history and the size of its principal cast. Sure, we just lost Beth in a rather dramatic fashion, plus Bob earlier in the season and a whole bunch of Terminus cannibals. But come on, this is the Zombie Apocalypse we’re talking about here. While we wait for the series’ return in February, let’s look at who has the best chance of making it to Season 6. We’re ranking the characters on a SURVIVAL SCALE of 1 to 10, with 1 being practically already a walker and 10 being safe and sound. Here’s what we think: Daryl Dixon: As much as Rick is the face of the show, Daryl is the heart — at least as far as diehard fans are concerned. If anyone’s going to make it all the way through this show alive, it’s him. Michonne: As much of a fan favorite as Daryl, and she’s taken too much of a back seat so far this season to kill off. Surely they wouldn’t do that to us. Baby Judith: What kind of a monster are you? Rick Grimes: Yeah, he’s not going anywhere anytime soon, not since they reunited him with his baby at the top of Season 5 but haven’t given him much screen time at all with her or Carl so far. Unless the second half of the season is Grimes-heavy, in which case maybe they’re building up to a shocking finale. Carl Grimes: Oh, come on, the boy? He’s only just starting to come into his own, and his development as a hard-talking apocalypse survivor still has a lot of places to go. Still, if they really wanted to send Rick off the deep end… Carol Peletier: Daryl’s boon companion Carol has gotten so much work put into developing her character from battered wife to basically Rambo that she might have seemed to be headed to a heroic but tragic death earlier this season. But after they spent so much of the last few episodes saving her life and rescuing her, that would just be mean at this point. Tyreese: The group needs its big, violence-averse teddy bear, and Rick needs a capable babysitter. While Tyreese is totally the type to take one for the team, he’s probably still got some time before he does. Tara Chambler: That sense of humor might just be what helps keep her around, as nobody else is making with the inappropriate wisecracks this group so sorely needs. Glenn Rhee: The voice of reason and resident good guy can only stick around so long, and the cast is getting pretty crowded. Still we’d expect to see Glenn and Maggie get some more quality screen time before one of them bites it. Maggie Greene: We give her about the same odds as Glenn, but if it’s any consolation it will probably only be one or the other. Sasha: She’s really, really upset about Bob still — with good reason — and she’s been giving a lot of steely-eyed stares lately. We could see her going down in a blaze of heroic glory once the show comes back. Abraham Ford: He’s been through the ringer with the revelation about Eugene being a big old liar, and we’ve gotten a lot of back story for him already this year, so he could be primed for a splashy exit by the end of the season. Noah: He’s pretty new, and he’s still got some mistakes to make up for — nobody touches Daryl’s crossbow! — but he’s only been listed as a guest star so far. Does that mean a messy exit in the New Year or a bump up to series regular? He certainly needs some time to make good on Beth’s sacrifice for him, but maybe that time is, oh, about half a season. Rosita Espinoza: She’s gotten a fair amount of screen time in the first half of the season, and she’s kind of occupying the same emotional and character space as a few others, so consider her back to have a big target on it going forward. Eugene Porter: He’s got to make up for that huge lie he got everyone to buy into, or at least he’s a great source of tension within the group. Still, if they’re looking to up the body count in the second half, he’s a prime candidate. Father Gabriel: We’re honestly surprised he’s made it this far. Expect this character’s one note to be played to its logical conclusion before the finale. What do you think? Are we totally out of our minds here? Who do you think is going to bite it in the second half of Season 5?
Follow Ned Ehrbar on Twitter: @nedrick
SURVIVAL SCALE: 10
SURVIVAL SCALE: 10
SURVIVAL SCALE: 10
SURVIVAL SCALE: 9
SURVIVAL SCALE: 9
SURVIVAL SCALE: 8
SURVIVAL SCALE: 8
SURVIVAL SCALE: 6
SURVIVAL SCALE: 5
SURVIVAL SCALE: 5
SURVIVAL SCALE: 3
SURVIVAL SCALE: 3
SURVIVAL SCALE: 2
SURVIVAL SCALE: 2
SURVIVAL SCALE: 2
SURVIVAL SCALE: 1